Carriage-type drawing apparatus



July 2, 1968 FAUL ET AL 3,390,462

CARRIAGE-TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed April 24, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1unar/g.

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Inventor:

Thomas L. Paul and Tu an Viuar 3: M44- .HBH'TI' Y I /Hkom July 2, 1968T. L. FAUL--ET AL 3,390,462

CARRIAGE-TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed April 24, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2lnvenlor: [mamas L. Tau! and To? an (/iwu July 2, 1968 'r. L. FAUL ETALCARRIAGE-TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 24, 1967lnvenlar: Thomas L. Fan and Tu'rqw V uu 3Y= Wul- H'ui'um M nu- UnitedStates Patent 3,390,462 CARRIAGE-TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS Thomas L. Faul,Skaneateles, N.Y., and .Iurgen Vieser,

Lahr, Black Forest, Germany, assignors to Albert Nestler A.G., Lahr,Black Forest, Germany Filed Apr. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 633,099 Claimspriority, application Germany, Apr. 28, 1966, N 28,458, N 28,459, N28,461 15 Claims. (Cl. 33-79) ABSTRACT ()F THE DISCLOSURE Acarriage-type drawing apparatus which is designed so as to permit thecarriage of the drawing head to be very easily adjusted to and locked atany point of the guide rail by a very simple device and which is alsoprovided with a simple device for locking the counterweight in a fixedposition to prevent it from damaging the apparatus during shipment.

Summary of the invention The present invention relates to acarriage-type drawing apparatus which is provided with a guide railextending parallel to a drawing board for supporting and guiding acarriage.

It is an object of the invention to provide such an apparatus with adevice which permits the drawing head to be very easily adjusted to anyposition along the length of a guide rail and to be locked in such aposition for a drawing operation.

A feature of the invention for attaining this object consists in theprovision of a locking device which is connected in such a manner to abracket which is pivotably mounted on the carriage and carries thedrawing head that when the drawing head is lifted off the drawing board,the locking device will be released so that the carriage may then beeasily shifted along its guide rail.

Another object of the invention consists in providing such acarriage-type drawing apparatus with suitable means which during ashipment of the apparatus are adapted to prevent a counterweight for thecarriage from being thrown back and forth against the inner walls of thehollow rail in which the counterweight is guided, and which thus preventthe counterweight, and especially the rollers of a roller-mountedcounterweight, from being damaged during shipment.

Another feature of the invention therefore consists in providing theapparatus with a very simple locking device for securing thecounterweight in a fixed position within the hollow guide rail so as toprevent it from moving therein during a shipment of the apparatus. Thislocking device consists of at least one locking screw in a tapped borein the counterweight and of a bore in a wall of the guide rail throughwhich a screw driver may be inserted for turning the locking screw so asto clamp the counterweight firmly against an inner wall of the guiderail.

It is another object of the invention to mount the rollers of thecounterweight so that the movements of the counterweight will be assilent as possible.

Another feature of the invention for attaining this last object consistsin mounting the rollers on the counterweight by resilient,sound-absorbing means so that, when employing, for example, rollers ofplastic, the counterweight may be moved along the inside of the guiderail without making any noise.

3,3%,462 Patented July 2, l9fi8 Another feature of the inventionconsists in rotatably mounting a pair of these rollers on the ends of anaxle which is then inserted into a transverse recess in one side of thecounterweight and is clamped in this recess by means of at least oneresilient element.

It is a further feature of the invention to provide the axle for eachpair of rollers at the center of its length with a flange whichaccomplishes two purposes, namely, to serve as a stop to prevent theaxle from shifting in its axial direction by fitting into acorresponding recess in the counterweight, and to serve as a means forconnecting the cable or cables to the counterweight which connect thelatter to the carriage carrying the drawing head. For the last-mentionedpurpose, the flange on the roller axle is provided with recesses inwhich the ends of the cables are secured. In connection with the featureof the invention of mounting the axle in the counterweight by means of aresilient connecting element, the additional advantage is attained byconnecting the cables to the axle flange that, due to the resilientelement, the cables may be given a resilient tension which is importantfor a proper operation of the counterweight.

The above-mentioned as well as numerous other features and advantages ofthe present invention will become more clearly apparent from thefollowing detailed description thereof which is to be read withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows an elevation of a drawing board with the carriage-typedrawing apparatus according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows an enlarged rear view of the carriage carrying a drawinghead;

FIGURE 3 shows a cross section which is taken along the line IIIIII ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 shows an enlarged elevation of the counterweight according tothe invention, wherein one of the roller axles is removed and shownseparately from the counterweight;

FIGURE 5 shows a side view of the counterweight according to FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 shows a cross section which is taken along the line VIVI ofFIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 shows, partly broken away and in section an enlarged view ofthe central part of one of the axles carrying the rollers of thecounterweight;

FIGURE 8 shows a cross section which is taken along the line VIII-VIIIof FIGURE 1 of the second rail support;

FIGURE 9 shows a cross section which is taken along the line IX-IX ofFIGURE 8; while FIGURE 10 shows a cross section which is taken along theline XX of FIGURE 9.

The carriage-type drawing apparatus according to the invention asillustrated in the drawings comprises a first guide rail 3 which isconnected to a drawing board 1 and provided with rail tracks on whichthe rollers of a first carriage 7 are movable. Carriage 7 carries asecond guide rail 9 with a pair of opposite rail tracks 23 for therollers 5 of a second carriage 11. By means of a connecting bracket 15which is pivotable about a pair of pivot pins 13 extending parallel tothe second rail 9, the second carriage 11 is connected to a drawing head17 which is either rigidly connected to the bracket 15 or so as to bepivotable about an axis extending parallel to the axis of the pivot pins13. Both rails 3 and 9 form sections of a suitable length of the samehollow rail stock of a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIGURE 8.

As shown particularly in FIGURES 2 and 3, the second carriage 11 isprovided with a locking device which consists of a lever 12 which ispivotable about the axis of a pivot 12' which extends at right angles tothe plane of the drawing board 1. This lever 12 carries a brake shoe 14which is adapted to be applied against the second guide rail 9 and isacted upon by a compression spring 16 which tends to lift the brake shoe14 off the second rail 9 so as to release the locking device.

The connecting bracket is provided with a control device for operatingthe brake lever 12 of the locking device in the second carriage 11. Thiscontrol device has a control lever 83 which is pivotable on a pivot 18from a releasing position to two different locking positions and carriesa cam plate 20 which is opcratively associated with the brake shoe 14-when the drawing head 17 in its operative position rests on the drawingboard. The control lever 38 is acted upon by a tension spring 22 whichtends to return the lever to its releasing position. The peripheralsurface of cum plate 2-3 is designed so that, when lever 38 is in itsfirst locking position and cam plate 20 engages upon the brake shoe 14,there will be no self-locking action so that, if the draftsman takes hisfinger off the control lever 88, this lever will be returned by thereturn spring 22 to its releasing position. If, however, the controllever 88 is pivoted to the second locking position, the friction betweencam plate 20 and brake shoe 14 will produce a self-locking action whichprevents the control lever 88 from returning automatically to itsreleasing position. In the particular embodiment as illustrated, thecontrol lever 88 and the cam plate 24} consists of a single piece ofmaterial and are pivotably mounted in such a manner on the connectingbracket 15 that, when the drawing head is lifted off the drawing boardby pivoting the bracket 15 about the pivot pins 13, the cam plate 2!)will also be lifted off the brake shoe 14 so that the latter will thenbe lifted off the guide rail 9 by the compression spring 16 and thelocking action will thereby be discontinued. The control lever 88 willthen at the same time be pivoted back to its releasing position by thereturn spring 22 so that, when the drawing head 17 is thereafter layedback upon the drawing board, the carriage 17 will not be locked.

From the above description it is therefore evident that the brake shoe14 and the cam plate 20 form coupling elements for connecting thecontrol device comprising the lever 88 and the cam plate 29 to thelocking device comprising the brake shoe 14.

As illustrated in FIGURES 4 to 8, the inside 59 of the second guide rail9 contains the counterweight 61 which is provided near both ends withopposite lateral recesses 2 in which two pairs of rollers 76 arelocated. Each pair of these rollers 76 is rotatably mounted on the endsof an axle 176 which is inserted into a transverse recess 158 in thelower side of the counterweight 61 and is clamped in a fixed positiontherein by a pair of resilient rings 16% of rubber or plastic which arefitted upon the axle 176.

Each axle 176 is further provided with a central flange 162 which has awidth in accordance with the width of a cutout 164 in each end of thecounterweight. When the two axles 176 are inserted into the transverserecesses 158 of the counterweight and are clamped therein by theresilient rings 160, the flanges 162 fit tightly into the cutouts 164and act as stops for preventing the axles from shifting in their axialdirections.

Flange 162 on each axle 176 is provided with two adjacent slots 166which extend at right angles to the axis of the axle from one side ofthe peripheral surface of the flange approximately to a diametricalplane of the flange. Each flange 162 is further provided with a pair ofsocket bores 168 which extend to the bottom end of the slots 166 and areadapted to receive thickened end portions 179 on the ends of a pair ofcables 63 when these cable ends are inserted into the slots 166. Thethickened end portions 170 of the cables in the socket bores 168 thensecure the cables in the slots 166. The other ends of the two cables 63are secured in the same manner to the flange 162; of the other axle 176so that the counterweight 61 connects the opposite ends of each of thetwo cables 63 to each. other. These two cables then extend over a pailofguide pulleys, not shown, which are mounted on the ends of the secondguide rail 9, and the strands of cables 63 which extend along the rearouter side of the second guide rail 9 are connected in a conventionalmanner to the second carriage 11.

The manner of mounting the axles 176 in the recesses 158 in thecounterweight 61 by means of resilient rings 166 permits a very simpleconstruction of the counterweight, especially if each of these axles isprovided with a central flange 162. These resilient rings also insure apractically noiseless run of the counterweight 61 and permit the cables63 to be given a resilient tension. When the drawing board is obliquelyinclined or in a horizontal position, the guide rollers 76 of thecounterweight 61 rest upon the rear wall 4 of guide rail 9, as shown inFIGURE 8, which then serves as a runway for these rollers.

As shown particularly in FIGURES 9 and 10, the counterweight 61 isfurther provided with a pair of tapped bores 6 into which locking screws3 are screwed each of which has a head 16 with a slot 24 for theinsertion of a screw driver. The ends 26 of the tapped bores 6 facingthe runway 4 for the rollers 76 are recessed to permit the screw heads10 to be inserted therein. The recessed end 26 of each of these boreshas such a depth that, when the respective screw 8 is screwed into thebore 6 until the head 11) engages upon the bottom 26' of the recess 26,the free end of the shank 8 of the screw and the head 10 will be flushwith the opposite sides of the counterweight or project only so slightlytherefrom that they cannot engage with the adjacent walls of guide rail9. Screws 3 are in this position, as shown at the lower part of FIGURE10 when the drawing apparatus including the counterweight 61 is inoperation.

The rear wall 4 of guide rail 9 which forms the runway for the rollers76 is provided within its central longitudinal axis with a pair of bores28 which are spaced at the same distance from each other as the bores 8in the counterweight 61 so that when the latter is shifted to the properposition, the bores 33 and 28 may be placed in accurate alignment witheach other. These bores 28 are conically enlarged toward the inside ofthe guide rail and made of a diameter so as to form conical seats, forthe conically reduced free ends 32 of the screw heads 19, as shown atthe upper part of FIGURE 10.

The side of the counterweight 61 opposite to the wall 4 of guide rail 9is provided with four projections 34 which project further from thisside than the rollers 76.

If the drawing apparatus as previously described is to be packed forshipment, the second carriage 11 which is connected to the counterweight61 by the cables 63, is shifted along the guide rail 9 to a position inwhich the screw heads 10 coincide with the bores 28. A screw driver isthen inserted through the bores 28 into the slots 24 in the screw heads10 and screws 3 are then turned until their ends 32 engage into thebores 28 and shift the counterweight 61 toward the wall of guide rail 9opposite to the Wall 4 until the projections 34 press against this Wallso that the heavy counterweight 61 will then be securely locked in afixed position and therefore cannot damage the drawing apparatus duringshipment. Screws 8 and the projections 34 then also serve as spacingmeans for preventing the rollers 76 of the counterweight from engagingwith the opposite walls of guide rail 9. When the drawing apparatusarrives at its destination and is to be used for making drawings, it isonly necessary to screw the screws 8 so far into the bores that thescrew heads 10 engage upon the bottoms 26 of the recesses 26.

Although our invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiment thereof, we wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capableof numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A carriage-type drawing apparatus, comprising a guide rail adapted tobe connected to a drawing board so as to extend parallel thereto, acarriage movable along and guided by said guide =rail, a drawing head, aconnecting bracket connected at one end to said drawing head andpivotably connected at its other end to said carriage and adapted to bepivoted from a first lower position in which said drawing headsubstantially engages with said drawing board to a second higherposition in which said drawing head is spaced from said drawing board,locking means associated with said bracket and adapted in said firstposition of said bracket to be in locking engagement with said guiderail for thereby locking said carriage in a fixed position at any pointalong said guide rail to which said carriage has been moved, saidlocking means being released from said guide rail when said bracket ispivoted to said second position so as to permit said carriage then to bemoved along said guide rail, said locking means is movably mounted onsaid carriage, said apparatus further comprising resilient means actingupon said locking means and tending to move the same to a releasedposition from said guide rail, and actuating means for said lockingmeans connected to and movable with said bracket for acting upon saidlocking means against the action of said resilient means when saidbracket is in said first position and being disengaged from said lockingmeans when said bracket is in said second position.

2. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said actuatingmeans comprise a control lever pivotably mounted on said bracket, and atransmitting member connected to said control lever and adapted in saidfirst position of said bracket to be moved by said lever from a releasedposition out of engagement with said locking means to at least oneoperative position in engagement with said locking means to press thelatter against said guide rail.

3. A drawing apparatus .as defined in claim 2, wherein said transmittingmember consists of a cam plate integral with said control lever.

4. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 2, further comprising springmeans acting upon said lever and tending to move the same together withsaid transmitting member to the release position of said member.

5. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said transmit-tingmember is adapted to be moved by said control lever to two differentoperative positions, said transmitting member in a first of saidoperative positions remaining by self-locking action in said position aslong as the operator of said apparatus does not pivot said lever to thereleasing position of said member, said transmitting member remaining inthe second operative position only as long as the operator holds saidlever in said position and being returned by said spring means to itsreleased position when the operator takes his hand olf said lever.

6. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said locking meanscomprise a brake shoe pivotably mounted on said carriage and having abrake surface at one side thereof adapted to engage upon said guiderail, said actuating means being adapted in said first position of saidbracket to press against the other side of said brake shoe.

7. A carriage-type drawing apparatus comprising a guide rail adapted tobe connected to a drawing board so as to extend parallel thereto betweentwo opposite substantially horizontal sides thereof, said guide railhaving a hollow part and rail tracks secured to the outside of saidhollow part, a carriage movable along and guided by said rail tracks, acounterweight for said carriage within and movable along said hollowpart when said carriage is moved, means for connecting saidcounterweight to said carriage for their common movement, and means forlocking said counterweight in a fixed position in said hollow part so asto prevent it from moving during shipment of the apparatus, said lockingmeans comprising at least one locking screw in a tapped bore in saidcounterweight, said guide rail having at least one aperture thereinthrough which a screwdriver may be inserted for turning said lockingscrew so as to press said counter-weight against an inner wall of saidhollow part.

8. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said counterweightis provided with rollers adapted to roll along a first inner wall ofsaid hollow part containing said aperture when said locking screw isscrewed tightly into said tapped bore, said locking screw having a headtapered toward said first wall so that, when said screw is screwedoutwardly of said tapped bore in said counterweight, said tapered headwill engage into and press against the wall of said aperture and therebypress said counterweight against the opposite second wall of said hollowpart and disengage said rollers from said first wall.

9. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein one side of saidcounterweight facing said second wall of said hollow part is providedwith means projecting be yond the peripheral surface of said rollers andpressing against said second wall when the head of said locking screwengages upon the wall of said aperture in said first wall so that saidrollers are then spaced from said first and second walls of said hollowpart.

10. A carriage-type drawing apparatus comprising a guide rail adapted tobe connected to a drawing board so as to extend parallel thereto betweentwo opposite substantially horizontal sides thereof, said guide railhaving a hollow part and rail tracks secured to the outside of saidhollow part, a carriage movable along and guided by said rail tracks, acounterweight for said carriage within and movable along said hollowpart when said carriage is moved, means for connecting saidcounterweight to said carriage for their common movement, saidcounterweight having a pair of transverse recesses in one side thereofnear its opposite ends, an axle loosely in serted into each of saidrecesses, a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on the opposite ends ofeach of said axles, and resilient means in said recesses interposedbetween each of said axles and the walls of said recesses for holdingsaid axles within said recesses.

11. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said resilientmeans comprise at least one tubular member of a rubberlike materialfitted on said axle and pressed with said axle into said recess.

12. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 10, further comprising guidepulleys on the opposite ends of said guide rail, and at least onecablelike member extending over said guide pulleys and connected at itsopposite ends to said axles and at a part intermediate said ends to saidcarriage, said cablelike member having a resilient tension due to saidresilient means on said axles.

13. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein saidcounterweight is provided with a cutout near each end thereof andsubstantially centrally of each of said recesses, each of said axleshaving a flange which has a width substantially equal to the width ofsaid cutout so as to prevent said axle from shifting in its axialdirection, said resilient means comprising at least two rings of arubber-like material on each of said axles at both sides of said flange.

14. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein said flange hasat least one slot therein extending at right angles to the axis of saidaxle, and further comprising guide pulleys on the opposite ends of saidguide rail, and at least one cablelike member extending over said guidepulleys and its opposite ends being inserted into said slots in saidaxles and secured to said flange, and a part of said member insertedinto said socket bores so as to secure said cablelike memberintermediate its ends being secured to member to said flanges. saidcarriage.

15. A drawing apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein References Cit dsaid slot extends from the eri heral surface of said flangesubstantially to a diametric al line of said flange, said flange 6FOREIGN PATENTS further having a Socket bore in the opposite side tosaid 1,347,619 2/1963 France.

slot, the bottom of said socket bore being connected to said slot, andthickened end portions on said cablelike HARRY N,HAROIAN,P i/7mryExaminer.

